Just Moments Before
by xXKanpekiXx
Summary: A glimpse into the happy past. A friendship fic for Henry and Abby.


**Title:** Just Moments Before

**Summary: **A glimpse back into the happy past. A Henry and Abby friendship fic. Flashback while Abby is looking at the newspaper article she ordered for the scrapbook.

**Rating: **K

**Notes: **I make no guesses as to who the killer is. This is nearly irrelevant to the series.

My first fanfiction for Harper's Island! Yay! I've been dabbling in new fandoms lately and I absolutely LOVE this series, so I thought I'd give it a go. It's just a short drabble, no spoilers. (I mean, some, but nothing actually influential to the series) I realize that there will be a few inaccuracies, but I didn't have time to re-watch the scene, so I went off memory. And now, enjoy!

* * *

Noting absentmindedly that the worker had walked away, Abby turned to the yellow package folder, stiff and crisp in her hands. She motioned to open it, but paused for a moment, glancing down at the poorly maintained wooden counter. There was a stack of newspapers filled with bad memories and haunting ink illustrations.

Perhaps not consciously, Abby felt the cold sting of fear and pain, turning herself just a bit to the right, away from those nagging bits of a harsh history. Still having those worrisome emotions on the backburner, she refocused her attention on the item she'd requested. Hastily, she pushed at the top, pulling open the taunt cardstock flap.

Gazing at the black and white print, that momentary hurt and panic was long forgotten. Abby scanned below the bolded headline "Boy Catches Fish as Big as Head" and settled her eyes on a childish Henry Dunn. Abby couldn't help but grin as she stared on at those pudgy cheeks puffed out and tired from that giddy grin he'd been wearing all that day.

Brushing back a stray piece of amber hair, Abby allowed her pure features fill with a long-reaching joy. She still remembered it all so clearly. She could still see Henry clearly in her mind, recalling every miniscule detail of that oh-so important day…

~*~*~*~

_Running down the nature-encrusted path, little Henry Dunn stumbled over a few stray twigs and roots, nearly planting his face in a particularly unforgiving bush. He continued rushing down the vegetative tail. _

_His widely stretched smile pulled even further across his windswept face once he saw the roof of a familiar house haze into view out of the glistening foliage. Henry began to shout, throwing his voice desperately at the well-manicured garden. _

_"__Abby! Abby!" He yelled, booking it across the last bit of wood before he emerged from the shadows of the tall oaks and sprinted, dancing hurriedly over the glistening, dew-feathered lawn. From inside the comfy abode, Abby's mother turned to her daughter, putting her arms gently on her petite shoulders. Abby, engrossed in a sweet tale of princesses and happily ever afters, glanced up, taken aback by her mother's interruption. _

_She smiled gently as she said "Darling, I think you have a visitor." _

_Knowing that meant only one person, Abby rushed to the door, nearly as excited as the boy drawing ever closer to the white wooden porch. Opening the door just as Henry was reaching for the knob, Abby greeted him excitedly, gasping at the gigantic fish he had clutched in his arms. She even ignored the stench when she reached out to hug him. _

_"Oh wow, Henry! You did it!" Wrapping her arms around his soft frame, she continued to fuss and squeal over her best friend's accomplishment. He pulled away slightly, as if to let his catch breathe a bit. _

_"Yeah! He's been teasing me for a while, but I finally caught one!" Henry giggled, staring down at his fish lovingly. _

_"Your father is going to be so happy." Abby added, joining Henry in looking at the impressive bounty. _

_"I told him I could catch one all by myself! Dad will have to let me on one of his fishing trips now!" Glad that Henry had finally been able to meet his father's high standards, Abby gave him one more tight embrace, realizing exactly how much this whole ordeal had meant to her friend. _

_Henry had desperately wanted to be a part of his father's fishing obsession for a number of years, but knowing that his son could never catch a fish without outside help, his dad had dangled the impossible to attain carrot in front of his boy's head. Not quite knowing how he was going to handle it if his son really did catch a fish, his father had reasoned that his son would have to be exponentially talented to catch a fish without instruction. _

_Naturally, he'd not planned on his son being so very exponentially talented. _

_Abby finally spoke after a few moments of being taken in by Henry's immense fish. _

_"What did your dad say?" Anxious to see whether or not her best friend had gotten what he'd so fervently wanted, she glanced up from the prize to look Henry in the eyes. His face was surprisingly blank, devoid of the pride or joy she'd expected to be plastered there. _

_"He hasn't seen it yet. You're the first one." Struck by Henry's words, Abby's eyes began to water, feeling a strong emotion well up inside of her. She'd been the first one to see, to share in Henry's greatest triumph to date. _

_Able to swallow them back, Abby ignored the tears and rushed back inside her house to let her parents know she was going with Henry to showboat the fish to the town. Her mother and father looked on from the window panes in the door with a sense of glazed over warmth. __A thought passed through both of their minds as they stood, arms placed gently across each other's shoulders, watching the retreating figures of Henry and Abby. _

_'If Abby were to marry Henry, how great an addition to our family he would be…' _

_The two ran off, both supporting the heavy fish, back onto their awaiting public…_

~*~*~*~

Abby snapped back, cheeks flushed from her happy little memory, and she slid the old newspaper delicately back into its packaging.

Eager to add it to the pristine scrapbook she'd labored on for so long, Abby began to rush out. Of course, once she'd been out in the street, nearly having been run over, she cursed at her abysmal luck whilst picking up the sodden wreck of papers and ink from the wet street.

She was, of course, immensely relieved that she'd had the foresight to put the most precious picture in its yellow cardstock envelope. Abby pulled it out once more before remembering where she was.

She continued on her way, just a bit less miserable and haunted than she'd been just moments before.

* * *

So? Like it, love it, hate it, want it taken down? Let me know! Thanks for reading :D


End file.
